Guild Wars (April Release)

[Escape]

Will definately play this on release, the open-beta event showed some potential.
The few arena fights I had during the beta were fast and fun. Having everyone play on the same server-cluster is the way forward for MMORPGs, specially those with PvP!

No subscription charge =




Has anyone seen pre-order boxes in UK stores? release date shows as 29th April for GAME.

 

[Aada]

Ive played all the Beta Weekends and yes the game is great but its not a game i'd play every day. You will need the good items for pvp because the uber guilds will farm them and pwn the shit guilds, and about the no subs charge? they will just release expansion packs every 6-9 months and make you pay £30 instead.

Content wise the game isn't that great but for what it is it's nice, the cookie cutter class is warrior/monk and it gets boring when all you're fighting is groups of Warrior/monk combos all the time. personally i played a Ranger/Warrior combo really enjoyed the nice pets as they really pissed players such as mages off.

Quests aint that great either just kill x mob/boss.

I'll stick with WoW.

 

[old.Tohtori]

4 million asians can't be wrong

Because it's from the same studio that made Lineage series(though might be the us branch of it), so there should be some elements in there worth the boxprice.

The main catch is, it's a great sidegame for WoW, daoc, whatnot.

Being free of monthly fees, i'll be sure to grab it from the shelf and play it from time to time.

 

[Custodian]

I am an Alpha Tester for GW
It is a very good game. Have been playng everyday for months (not just the monthly betas) and I aint bored of it yet. That alone makes it worth the price, as even if I never buy an expansion and never get into PvP - I prefer the co-op play of the story based missions and quests - I will get my moneys worth. Better value than any similar standard single player game with a bit of multiplayer tagged on.

The PvE has a long story driven plot that can be played co-op, or just take some NPC henchmen along if you have no friends This is the kind of thing we are expecting will be added to with expansion packs, so if ya want to follow a new story you can.

The PvP has team deathmatch style arenas (random teams) and guild v guild battles (with ladder rankings). Characters are very well balanced (ignore what Aada says ) and a team needs a good balance to do well - a team of 8 warrior/monks will die in seconds. They have done much work to make sure all teams have equal chance, and farming is not a requirement of success.

Should not be compared to WoW, or EQ, or similar - as they are intentionally trying to make something different. And they have.

Unfortunately the remaining "open" beta weekend is quite restricted I think, mostly folks that have pre-ordered the game. You might find some keys on some of the fan sites though.

You can pre-order from gameplay and play (was £18 there last time I looked), among other webby shops.

If you like the RPG type, and especially like playing it co-op rather than against the PC, then it is worth a look.

 

[Sh33p]

4 million asians can't be wrong

Because it's from the same studio that made Lineage series(though might be the us branch of it), so there should be some elements in there worth the boxprice.

The main catch is, it's a great sidegame for WoW, daoc, whatnot.

Being free of monthly fees, i'll be sure to grab it from the shelf and play it from time to time.

Huh? Arena net are mostly ex-blizzard employee's afaik GW is their first game.

It's PvP with purpose and skill and with minimal amounts of forced PvE.

It's a far better alternative to the zerg/queuealot crap that WoW will be, the reward is so stupid too; omg you get a new suit of armour that just made your 500 odd hours of running incredibly boring instances until you feel physically sick completely pointless, gg you.

Unfortunately I get the feeling that people are so addicted to WoW that GW won't do so well, not for a few more months at least.

 

[Aada]

Classes aint balanced one damn bit a group of warrior/monks will tear through most groups, and a group of warrior/monks with good items are unstoppable.

I remember a couple of weekends ago did a pickup group for the fun of it and our first fight we met a group of warrior/monks you could tell from the look of them their armour was shithot we didn't stand a chance.

Wouldn't suprise me if you played a Warrior/monk combo tbh

Farming not a requirement to sucess? yeah whatever mate the guilds who farm the uber items will own the arenas its always been this way in mmorpgs uber itemz= ownage and GW doesn't change that mold.

I'm not saying GW is crap it's not it just needs alot more work on the balance side of things.

 

[Custodian]

Huh? Arena net are mostly ex-blizzard employee's afaik GW is their first game.

I think he might have meant the publisher, NCSoft, who are responsible for games like Lineage and City of Heroes as well as Guild Wars.
The fact that AreneNet have a lot of ex-Blizzard folks is another plus point

Aada, I aint gunna get into an argument with ya, as everyone is entitled to their opinion. Just didn't want folks to read your review, based on your limited exposure to an unfinished game, and assume it was a definitive description of what to expect. It won't be everyone's cup of tea, no game is, but is certainly a lot better than you suggest.

 

[Aada]

Well class balance is a major issue none the less and if you disagree you're biased

 

[Sh33p]

Classes aint balanced one damn bit a group of warrior/monks will tear through most groups, and a group of warrior/monks with good items are unstoppable.

I remember a couple of weekends ago did a pickup group for the fun of it and our first fight we met a group of warrior/monks you could tell from the look of them their armour was shithot we didn't stand a chance.

Wouldn't suprise me if you played a Warrior/monk combo tbh

Farming not a requirement to sucess? yeah whatever mate the guilds who farm the uber items will own the arenas its always been this way in mmorpgs uber itemz= ownage and GW doesn't change that mold.

I'm not saying GW is crap it's not it just needs alot more work on the balance side of things.

You have no idea what you're talking about tbh, you need to go back, make a 20 PvP char, find a guild and try the game again.

Nearly all of what you've said is either no longer true of the current build of the game or completely false to begin with.

 

[Aada]

got a 20 pvp char, cheers though.

 

[Sh33p]

got a 20 pvp char, cheers though.

Ok well why talk about armour? There's no "uber" armour, all the pvp pre-mades and customs have access to the full lot and they're all pretty much equal with some better for certain situations vs certain builds etc.

There are no "uber items" that require farmage and the game isn't all that item dependent anyway, runes make a big difference but you can unlock most runes/skills in the 30-40 hours it takes you to get to max level and do all the missions with your RP char.

Once that's done it's unlocked forever and all your new PvP chars have access to those.

You're trying to think of GW in MMORPG terms that just don't apply, it's not a MMOG, they don't get any money off you by making you play month after month so there's no need for huge timesinks.

Edit: And 8 W/M's would get absolutely destroyed, just 1 monk would be able to outheal their damage all day.

 

[Aada]

The game does have uber armour though because you get that off the boss's such as a dragon (can't remember the name but its in the instance with all the undead stuff).

I aint arguing ive said my opinion and i respect others too.

 

[Sh33p]

The game does have uber armour though because you get that off the boss's such as a dragon (can't remember the name but its in the instance with all the undead stuff).

I aint arguing ive said my opinion and i respect others too.

I'm not sure about that, as far as I'm aware the armour you see in the pvp pre-made area is basically the high end stuff.

Taking the Ele's armour for example http://www.guild-hall.net/elem-armor.php it wouldn't make any sense to have an uber armour that replaces all those when the whole point is the strategic choice of wearing pyro vs a fire build opponent etc.

The whole point is that GW breaks the traditional MMOG mold because it's not a MMOG.

And you really need to experience organised GvG to have any grasp on the game balance to start with.

I just don't really understand why you flamed it without playing it enough to see these things.

 

[Aada]

Don't get me wrong i have played with a few good groups (made it to the last arena) and the game is very good that side of things, i just think the game is geared to the casual gamer and people who just want a quick fight.

Nothing wrong with this but i think anyone looking for something with abit more depth is better off at trying WoW/DAOC etc.

Don't get me wrong GW is a decent game beats most things out there but people go with an illusion that no monthly fee = great.

They don't however think about the £30 they are going to have to fork out every 6-9 months for the inevitable expansion packs because lets face it they are in it for the money. How are they going to pay the devs/support staff without no income?

 

[Sorgrind]

I'm interested in buying this game...Seems to be v. good, I've enjoyed DAoC for 2 1/2 years and I'd like to play something a little less demanding, where you do not have to have to very best and spend hours camping spots just to stand a chance. I just have a few questions maybe some of you could answer:

In the actual guild vs guild battles:
1. Is there a limit to how many people on each team and do they have to be equal?

2. Is it just a massive battle with doznes of people on each side?

3. Do the enemies you kill drop loot or money?

4. Do you get experience for winning a battle?

In the actual game:

1. Is it as hard, at the higher levels, to level as in DAoC? e.g. DAoC equilavent of the last three levels

2. When you die, do you lose most of your stuff except the most valuable?

3. What is the money system?

4. Are there any mounts?

5. As the game comes out on 28th/4, surely they have decided whether humas are the only race or not, but I cannot find any articles related?

I'd also love some help on class/speccs etc. Ones I've considered so far: Monk or Ranger...I like the fact that monks can heal and buff, instantly making them popular for groups. However, I like archer classes and they have a pet too

Any answers/help would be greatly appreciated

 

[Gahn]

Preordered it 2 months ago ^^

 

[Custodian]

In the actual guild vs guild battles:
1. Is there a limit to how many people on each team and do they have to be equal?

2. Is it just a massive battle with doznes of people on each side?

3. Do the enemies you kill drop loot or money?

4. Do you get experience for winning a battle?

Guild teams are limited to 8, which is part of the strategy aspect as it limits what you can take so you have to balance well.
The battles themselves come in several forms.
Pure GvG is an 8v8 comp between 2 guilds.
There are other arenas where more than 2 teams, with 8 players per team, fight for supremecy. Each battle won means progressing to next arena, until ultimately you are king of the hill. Then you try and remain champs for as long as possible.
You get experience from PvP, but no drops or loot. You also get Fame for winning in arena

In the actual game:

1. Is it as hard, at the higher levels, to level as in DAoC? e.g. DAoC equilavent of the last three levels

2. When you die, do you lose most of your stuff except the most valuable?

3. What is the money system?

4. Are there any mounts?

5. As the game comes out on 28th/4, surely they have decided whether humas are the only race or not, but I cannot find any articles related?

Can't compare to DAoC as I don't play it. I can tell you it is much harder to progress through the higher level missions, even with higher level chars, as the game difficulty is ramped up (cleverer enemies with more skills available, etc.)

You don't lose stuff if you die.

There is a money system, typical gold piece type thing. Lots of trade goes on between players, swapping good stuff for money or other good stuff. There are NPC traders and crafters as well. They have put a lot of effort into trying to make the economy work without it being a key feature - the adventuring is more important

No mounts.

Player characters are only human. I have no idea if they are planning any change in that (and probably could not say if I did due to the NDA).

I'd also love some help on class/speccs etc. Ones I've considered so far: Monk or Ranger...I like the fact that monks can heal and buff, instantly making them popular for groups. However, I like archer classes and they have a pet too.

There are lots of fan sites with details (as much as is public just now) on the classes and skills. e.g. http://www.guild-hall.net/ or http://www.gwonline.net/

Hope that helps.

 

[Sh33p]

Don't get me wrong i have played with a few good groups (made it to the last arena) and the game is very good that side of things, i just think the game is geared to the casual gamer and people who just want a quick fight.

Nothing wrong with this but i think anyone looking for something with abit more depth is better off at trying WoW/DAOC etc.

Don't get me wrong GW is a decent game beats most things out there but people go with an illusion that no monthly fee = great.

They don't however think about the £30 they are going to have to fork out every 6-9 months for the inevitable expansion packs because lets face it they are in it for the money. How are they going to pay the devs/support staff without no income?

It all depends what you want out of the game, if it's PvP i'd hardly say WoW has depth in that area, not yet at least. It's just the same old rehashed EQ formula, addictive but ultimately pretty shallow.

There's a lot of depth in the strategy and tactics behind GW, most people will never see that side of things admittedly but it is definately there, you can see it in the whole design of the game from the hundreds of skills to the way you can instantly make max level chars for PvP builds.

MMO's never have that or very few have even come close to putting strategy into the fight as opposed to just one big fuck off zerg, admittedly daoc touched on it with fotm setups but it was just abusing overpowered classes and ultimately daoc PvP came down to RR and the zerg always won in the end.

Yeah it's not a game you're going to play for 12 hours a day and the PvE doesn't have that much depth but it's not supposed to, at it's core it's appealing to the competitive PvP gamer that will play in structured GvG not just random pickup arena groups; and I have the feeling the ladder will be very competitive like we see in FPS games.

 

[Escape]

So which classes are people planning to play on release?

I'm leaning towards a healing/CC class. Though the types of CC are spread out and there's no clear choice - so far as I can tell! I'll probably start with an elementalist/monk and focus on water magic, healing and protection skills.

A necro/ranger sounds fun too oO

 

[Custodian]

Necro's are good fun in the PvE stuff. I have played a necro/monk a few times now, a great support character for any team as I can raise the undead or ressurect the party

Warrior builds can be based on pure damage, relying on the other party members to keep ya alive, and can then do some serious damage. Or mix it with a support class (monk, necro, mesmer) and add in some survival skills at the expense of pure damage.

Rangers and Elementalists are the ones that do damage at range, if ya don't like getting toe-to-toe these are for you.

Mesmer is the clever one, using magic to counter the opponent as much as to damage them. There is nothing more annoying than running into a clever mesmer that just stops your character doing it's thing, making you feel quite useless, and potentially leading to your death

 

[Turamber]

After the third time of being stunlocked on my mount by a rogue and killed in two hits I bought this game. Don't know if it will replace WoW, but should be a good little game to take out my frustrations at the warlock class on.

I intend to play a mesmer, whether it's newb friendly or not

 

[FuzzyLogic]

Going to be playing an Elementalist/Monk meself, largely because I just thought it was fun. It's a good pick up/put down game to be had and should be grand for those inevitable downtimes in WoW .



Oh, I also found it childishly amusing that as a an Elementalist/Monk my title was E/Mo...but that's beside the point.

 

[Sharkith]

oki the discussion has convinced me I will buy and try - it looks good and I fancy something that is less of a drag. I also hate the lack of balance in game like daoc where onyl those with years to play are any good in a major way.

One big question I have - will they be able to control those who will eventually cheat? Or will it become a fantasy version of Counterstrike?

Sharkith

 

[Turamber]

Played for a bit this morning, now have a mesmer/elementalist at level 3. Love the graphics and the abilities. Also like the idea of having to choose eight skills before going out to adventure ... not that I have that many skills yet

Don't particularly like the lack of a Z axis to negotiate obstacles, but I guess that's necessary for the PvP aspect - to stop all those jumping 1337 fools. Looking forward to trying out the PvP although I think I will get another level or so first and get some more abilities.

 

[LordjOX]

Just bought it, am lvl 4 atm. It's well nice, nice with no subscription fees. Nice game to have if u play an other mmo and get bit bored in there.

 

[Escape]

It's nice to be able to test an instant level20 in the arena.
I've done that for most of the night to get a feel for the different classes.

There was a 4x Warrior/Monk group destroying everything in the arena, which forced me to try the pre-defined Wo/E character. I had alot more fun playing the warrior than I thought I would!

Incidentaly our group (Wo/E, Wo/Mo, Mo/E and E/Mo) easily won most of our fights, the group only ended when we needed to log. Though we didn't meet the Wo/Mo group, which was a let down. I wanted to kill them

Rangers seem pretty weak so far, though the ones I saw tonight only have a fraction of the abilities...

 

[Aada]

It's nice to be able to test an instant level20 in the arena.
I've done that for most of the night to get a feel for the different classes.

There was a 4x Warrior/Monk group destroying everything in the arena, which forced me to try the pre-defined Wo/E character. I had alot more fun playing the warrior than I thought I would!

Incidentaly our group (Wo/E, Wo/Mo, Mo/E and E/Mo) easily won most of our fights, the group only ended when we needed to log. Though we didn't meet the Wo/Mo group, which was a let down. I wanted to kill them

Rangers seem pretty weak so far, though the ones I saw tonight only have a fraction of the abilities...

Ah yes the Warr/monk group = terminators

 

[Kokelimonkelmedisin]

Ah yes the Warr/monk group = terminators

In e3 for everyone I remember beeing the monk in a group that consisted of
me and rest elementalists. Let me tell you, all we did was exit the doors in the
arena and wait for the other teams meles to come charging in, we had so mutch
dammage happening that noone could deal with it.

After staying in the arena unbeated for what I think was like 1 houer or so we
tiered as noone could challenge us and decided to quit

Dunno if they nerfed elementalist dammage since then tho.


Anyhow, this game is live now right?, how are you liking it?
Seemes more like a fps than a mmorpg to me realy, but might be a welcome change of
pace as wow didnt realy deliver for me (I think its too easy to run away from
people in pvp and never get killed unless you alow it to happen,
but thats a diffrent storry)

 

[JBP|]

Anyhow, this game is live now right?, how are you liking it?
Seemes more like a fps than a mmorpg to me realy, but might be a welcome change of
pace as wow didnt realy deliver for me (I think its too easy to run away from
people in pvp and never get killed unless you alow it to happen,
but thats a diffrent storry)

You should get Matrix Online then that might supply the challenge your looking for.

 

[mork]

So anyone know any UK guilds in guildwars? or their websites.

In all the towns everyone seems to be speaking either french or german

Red Kilmane W/Mo 9